Granit Xhaka asks Emery not to play him against Leicester City

Granit Xhaka will not be making a return to the Gunners first team in their game against Leicester City.

The midfielder has not played for the club since he swore at fans in their game against Crystal Palace. He was stripped of the club’s captaincy as a result of the incident. He has not been seen in an Arsenal shirt since then.

Emery was asked about the Swiss midfielder’s availability for the game against the Foxes. The Spaniard confirmed he will be missing for the fourth game running although he has been training all week.

‘I spoke with him on Tuesday for how he is feeling now and his mind because he is training well, but he said to me he can’t play. We are going to wait.’

Xhaka’s future at the club has been thrown into doubt and the midfielder may be on his way out in the next transfer window.

While Arsenal hasn’t confirmed if he would stay beyond this transfer window, it would take a lot of work for Xhaka to win back the support of the fans.

It cannot be a surprise to anyone that he is not playing against the Foxes. We have no idea what his mental or emotional state is. In fact, we really have no idea what the players and management position is on his return.

This is a mess and the sooner it is resolved the better it is for everyone, especially Xhaka.

Have we ever wondered why our captains do turn their backs on the fans. Henry, Van Persie, Fabregas, Galas, Koscielny and now Xhaka. Arsenal needs to really get to the basis if we want to move forward as a team. Many players come to Arsenal with high pedigree but turn out bad at the end. Which way forward

Fans who attend games are the customers of the club and if they hate him who is he playing for,you can’t swear at your bosses.Soon Fans full power and legal rights will cause the sacking of the incompetent manager who is killing this club silently,Real fans will hope Leicester wins.We need bad results to get the bad manager out

Real fans? No.
Am a real fan and I always and would always wish we win even if Mustsfi, Sokratis and Xhaka play with Emery in the dug out. How can I wish my beloved team to lose? No. Not under any circumstance. We are winning our next match.

I agree, though being honest, I KNOW FULL WELL that while the match is in play,and ONLY then, I will be hoping for a win , with my heart, though before and after the game , my head will again be in charge and my head tellls me we need a thrashing to enforce Emerys sacking within hours of the loss.It is best for the club, which takes precedence over the team in unusual times like this. Club before team when times like this happen, which though infrequent , DO happen at times and are happening right now.

@jonfox
You wanted AW gone so bad. Now look what you got. Only a deluded fool would think that whoever comes next will be any better, considering the board and management who will be hiring him. Here’s a hint, they’re the same clowns who hired Emery… 😂😂😂😂

Bad for him, bad for the club and bad for the fans.
I would have loved all our players to be in the right frame of mind at any time. We are short in the midfield and Xhaka is off till when it’s not known.
We recruited bad materials and what them to play like Messi? That’s the best most of them can play. Now that morale is low how can we win? I blame everybody including some fans.
You want to stone me? Come over to my village.

I doubt Arsenal will miss xhakas influence on this or any game. He will be gone in January if we can offload him to anyone. We will then see how xhakas influence has rubbed off on all the top teams that wont be queueing for his signature. Bad buy but that isn’t xhakas fault, thats down to who bought him.

As if this £35M waste of space had any chance of playing for this club again. His contract should have been terminated immediately. A rubbish footballer entertained for far too long. Get out of this club!!!

xhaka has asked not to be played ?. very big of him indeed. does he believe that he will play for us again i wonder ?. very intresting,could he ask the coach not to play him EVER again, that would be more like it .

Injury crisis apart, we have almost certainly – and MERCIFULLY TOO – seen the last of this one paced rash and useless trundler in our shirt. I do not condone online abuse and threats – no decent human EVER can- but I am overjoyed that he is on the way out. He should never have been bought and would not have been but for WENGER. Though it must be said too that nobody forced Emery to play him and make him captain, so he, Emery, is equally at fault.

Can we maybe move on from Xhaka’s mistake please? He has apologised and if that is not manly enough for some then that is too bad.

I really fail to see the point you are trying to make Admin. Why do you feel the need to keep the fans baying for his blood? I think bye-gone should be bye-gone. There is no real reason the embers of discord should be fanned tona frenzy. I think we have had enough of these things. This forum should stand for nobler things.

” NOBLER THINGS “you say? I would respectfully ask WHAT you consider to be “noble”? I would suggest a number of life principles that one ought to try to live by in life. But to expect true “nobility” on a fan discussion site is naive in the extreme. We can however be decent but we MUST also be truthful about how we feel, or any fan site is worthless. Please think on this when you mistakenly choose to misuse words like “noble”.

Okay Jon. I don’t really think it is “decent” flogging the Xhaka issue if you prefer that to being “noble”😄.

I just feel enough has been said about it. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and I cannot expect everybody to see things the same way. But like you said, yes, we can all try to be decent (if not noble) but I fail to see the decency in bashing a man after he said sorry.

Gunnerphilic, You ask can “we”! “We” is made up of myriad individuals who will obviously have many differing views and no ONE PERSON has the right to tell or even ask all those individual people not to discuss this topic. That is known as free choice to use free speech whenever any individual wishes. And that is healthy. YOUR ATTEMPT AT MASS CENSORSHIP IS DEEPLY SINISTER and will never work, thankfully. The fact is that right now Xhaka is an Arsenal player and until a few days ago was our captain. MANY WILL SURELY FEEL DEEPLY SORRY THAT HE AND HIS FAMILY HAS BEEN THREATENED , ON LINE BUT THAT GIVES NO ONE THE RIGHT TO TELL OTHERS NOT TO DISCUSS HIM.

I would have thought an away match would be the ideal stage for Xhaka to make his “comeback” after the Emirates incident.There will be a lot more pressure on him to perform at home, but who knows our fans may decide to wipe the slate clean and give him the support they afford others.I accept Xhaka has not been the player Wenger claimed he was,yet he still seems to have a good reputation in Germany and perhaps a return to the Bundisleague would be in the best interests of all concerned.

@Grandad, well said. The fan base need to be encouraged to give Xhaka a ‘clean slate’ like you said. We need to move on.

Xhaka is still an Arsenal player and will continue to be, until the club thinks he should be sold. Or he decides to pack it all up and move somewhere else. We are stuck with him until then. So it is better we make the best of the situation. He is still part of the team, good or bad.

If we support the team, then Xhaka should not be singled out for abuse and all that. Yes, we may not like his game and may think he doesn’t merit the shirt. But as long as he wears the shirt and is selected for games, then let’s support the team. Period.

All these Xhaka-bashing will not get us far. Being good at calling players who play badly names, is hardly going to change them. Remember that fans have their own share of Xhaka’s tantrum.